This is a collection guide. It is a description of archival material held in the Special Collections Division,
J.Y. Joyner Library, East Carolina University. The materials described here are physically available in our
reading room. To see what's been digitized in this collection, click on the thumbnail at the top right of this page
or look for hyperlinks in the container list and/or the preliminary inventory.

The collection contains four items from Captain James P. Jamison’s service aboard USS
Burns (DD-588) during World War II. It includes a copy of the citation awarding the silver star medal to Jamison for honorable service as gunnery officer aboard USS
Burns during a battle with enemy Japanese forces on 30 January 1944. There is an operations list and a track chart for USS
Burns during service in the Pacific, and typed history of USS
Burns.

James Pollock Jamison, a native of Pennsylvania, graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1941. He served aboard USS
Decatur (DD-341) until January 1943, involved first in neutrality patrol in the Caribbean and later convoy duty the North Atlantic. He then served aboard USS
Burns (DD-588), where he was involved in landings and raids throughout the South Pacific, including the Gilbert Islands, Marshall Islands, Palau, New Guinea, the Mariana Islands, and the Philippines. Jamison received a silver star for his service as gunnery officer aboard USS
Burns during action on 30 January 1944. In 1945, Jamison became executive officer on USS
Bordelon (DD-881) and commander of USS
Fogg (DE/DER-57). Jamison later served aboard USS
Robert H. McCard (DD-822) from 1952 to 1953 and as the director of technical and systems engineering within the Naval Ordnance System Commands beginning in 1968.

USS
Burns (DD-588) was a Fletcher-class destroyer for the U.S. Navy during World War II. The ship was launched on 8 August 1942 at Charleston Navy Yard and commissioned on 3 April 1943 with Commander D. T. Eller in command. USS
Burns served in various capacities on the Pacific Front, including anti-submarine escort, picket ship, fighter director ship, and aircraft rescue ship, for which the ship received ten battle stars. After the war, Burns was placed out of commission in reserve at San Diego, Calif. During the 1970s, the ship was struck from the Naval Vessel Register and later sunk as a target.

This page is only for requesting materials that you wish to view in person in the Reading Room at Joyner Library.
It does not permit you to view the materials online or to request their photoduplication. If you would like to request
materials for photoduplication, please visit our Copying and Permissions page.

Sensitive Materials Statement

Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations, the North Carolina Public Records Act (N.C.G.S. § 132 1 et seq.), and Article 7 of the North Carolina State Personnel Act (Privacy of State Employee Personnel Records, N.C.G.S. § 126-22 et seq.). Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals represented in this collection, without the consent of those individuals, may have legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under common law for invasion of privacy may arise if facts concerning an individual's private life are published that would be deemed highly offensive to a reasonable person) for which East Carolina University assumes no responsibility.

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